Handy holder for newspapers



Nov. 27, 1962 E. H. GOODMAN HANDY HOLDER EoR NEWSPAPERS Filed Aug. 7, 1961 INVENTOR EARL H. GOODMAN United States Patent @Orifice 3,065,565 Patented Nov. 27, 1952 3,065,565 HANDY HOLDER FR NEWSEAPERS Earl H. Goodman, Denver, Colo. (Rte. 3, Marshvilie, NC.) Filed Aug. 7, 1961, Ser. No. 129,360 3 Claims. (Cl. 45-85) This invention relates generally to supporting devices, and more specifically to a holder for supporting a newspaper for reading purposes.

Supporting a newspaper by means of the hands and arms can be a tiring expedient, particularly in the larger size of newspaper. Such support is even more tiresome and diiiicult to accomplish when reading out of doors or where there is a wind which will tend to vibrate and displace the pages from their correct distance for natural reading. There are also many instances wherein due to age or other iniirmities, the reader is unable to support a newspaper for prolonged periods. Such circumstances have -created a need for a handy holding device wherein the newspaper may be firmly attached for perusal at will, without danger of the pages becoming torn or otherwise damaged by wind or other prevailing circumstances. My invention is directed towards the solution of this need.

Itis therefore a primary object of my invention to provide a newspaper holding device which may be selectively held in the hand or supported on a table to enable comfortable reading of the paper from cover to cover.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a newspaper holder of the above class which may be folded atwll to provide a compact and portable container for the newspaper contained therein.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a newspaper holder of the above class which is robust in construction, and exceedingly eflicent in operation for practical use under many circumstances.

Briefly, the invention comprises the provision of a folding framework which when fully opened, provides a rigid backing and support for the newspaper. A central band extends from the upper end of the frame over the centre of the open newspaper so as to retain the same with respect to the frame. Spring loaded page arms extend over the side edges of the pages so as to retain the desired page in the open position for reading.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the newspaper holding device showing a newspaper mounted therein for reading purposes.

FIG. 2 is a plan view taken along the line 2--2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the device and is taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view showing one of the holding connections used in the construction of the frame.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views in the drawing.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the numeral 5 represents an L-shaped tubular member which is combined with other similar members to form two substantially rectangular frames 6 which are adapted to fold one upon the other. The members 5 are hingedly connected at 7 to form the outer sides of the frame and they are connected across their other ends 8 by means of two aligned rods 9 which are themselves connected together at their centre by a hinge 10. The hinges 10 permit -arcuate movement of the aligned rods 9 in a direction transversely of the plane formed by the rectangular frame 6. The two sets of aligned rods 9 are themselves hinged together at their upper and lowermost ends lil and 12, and the rectangular frames 6 are suitably reinforced by diagonal rods 13 which extend from the corners of the L-shaped tubular members 5 and terminate adjacent the central hinged portion of the aligned rods 9, so as to provide an effective supporting plane for a newspaper such as 14 laid thereacross.

The holder is shown in the drawing with the rectangular frame 6 disposed at a slight angle with respect to each other, and the newspaper 14 is retained in position by an elastic cord 15 which extends intermediate the hinged portions of the two frames, and is adapted to overlie the centre of the newspaper for releasable engagement over a hook 16 to maintain the paper evenly positioned over the frames. Page retainer arms 17 extend inwardly from the outer sides of the frame and are springingly secured to the side portion 18` of the L-shaped tubular members 5 for frictional overlapping engagement with the open pages of the newspaper i4. The holder may be supported in a substantially erect condition by means of two normally extending support arms 19 which are secured at one end to the lower ends 12 of the aligned rods 9. These support arms extend rearwardly of the frame and provide an effective means for supporting the same on a table or similar at surface in a substantially erect manner. When the frame is open for use, the side hinges 7 which connect the L-shaped tubular members 5 may be locked in their open or straight condition by means of a pivotally related clasp 2.0 which is secured to one of the members and engages over a stud 21 projecting normally from the adjacent member. It will be clear that the above framework may be folded to one half of the fully opened dimensions so as to provide a container of convenient size for carrying the paper.

Having described the invention with considerable particularity, it should be understood that various modifications may be made to the detail thereof, without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A folding holder for newspapers, comprising, two rectangular frames, each constructed from two L-shaped tubular members hingedly connected together at one end and having normally extending rods connecting their other ends, the said rods being disposed adjacent and parallel with each other, said rods being hinged together for movement such that the frame may be folded in half, said frames hingedly connected together between the rods, diagonal brace rods extending in the plane of each frame from the outer corners thereof and terminating at the hingedly disposed ends of the normally extending rods, and means for releasably mounting a newspaper for support by said frames.

2. A folding holder for newspapers according to claim 1, wherein, said means comprises an elastic cord extending longitudinally intermediate the hinged frames, said cord being adapted to extend across the centre of the newspaper and engage about a hook secured centrally between the upper ends of the frames, and page retainer arms springingly secured to the outer sides of the frames for frictional engagement over the open pages of the newspaper.

3. A folding holder for newspapers according to claim 1, wherein, a support arm projects normally from the lower end of each frame for supporting engagement with a table surface.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,544,724 Chalmers July 7, 1925 2,250,808 Lynch July 29, 1941 2,780,027 Laing Feb. 5, 1957 

